More than it seems
by taracurtis16
Summary: after the war a companionship program was enforced people on the dark either joined it or go to azkaban, and this is what happened to Draco and the world he knew. "who's the worse i could be paired with" he thought to himself as he signed the dotted line.
1. Chapter 1

''I couldn't believe it! She made me get this stupid muggle mobile device thing and she won't even answer it'' Draco mumbled to himself as he paced the grand marble fire place in the manor. 'So what! She's out with her muggle friends' he fumed to himself, 'I need her! She's meant to be helping me! She can't just take a day off!'.

After the war everyone on Voldemort's side was given two choices; either go to Azkaban or be a part of the new companion programme that the new minister brought in. The whole point of it people from the light help people from the dark change their old ways and re-join society as good and helpful citizens, people no longer had to be scared off. As for the Malfoy family; Draco's father had to serve a time in Azkaban before allowed to join the programme. But his mother, because of what she did for Harry, had been assigned Molly Weasley in the programme, while he had been stuck with the insufferable know it all Granger. At first he never said anything to her when he went for his meetings, he just waited till he got home then organised with his mother to have the manor changed and lightened. A few months later, when it was the first home visit for Granger to the manor she saw it had been transformed inside and out; gone were all the thorns and high hedges replaced with roses, tulips and carnations of all different colours. And where the inside used to be dark and gloomy was now light following in the style of Greek gods and goddess and yet with a more homely feel. Yet still Draco would not say a word, he just watched her face for old memories to surface and the surprise on her face at how different the place was. For months Draco never said a word to her when she came, they just sat in the comfy chairs in the library looking at each other, both waiting. But soon Granger's love of books drew her to the shelfs and she would read for their session. Then one day everything changed like usual Draco just watched Granger read when music started play from her pocket, to which she drew out a small rectangle device and mumbled to him "oops, I thought I put it on silent". She looked at him for a moment and seeing no change she went back to reading. But just as she finished her page he spoke to her for the first time since being pair with her on the programme, "What was that object you just had?" Draco asked quietly. And that was how everything began.

About an hour or so later there was a knock at the door of the largest dining room where Draco was still pacing the fire place. "If you're not Granger or someone equally as important go away" Draco yelled, one of the oak double doors slowly creaked open and slowly in walked Granger her shoes clicking against the tiled floor. "I asked for one day Draco! Just one! What could possibly be so important that it can't wait till are meeting tomorrow" Granger asked as she approached, Draco looked over her almost sorry for making her come over on her day off, but not quite. "I passed my interview for training to be a potion master but my test is tomorrow" he replied quickly, Granger looked at him confused and replied "and?! Your already prepared and that's great" but before she could say anything else Draco interrupted her and almost snapped "my auror exam/interview is tomorrow as well." A light of understanding passed over her features and replied "Ah! That's a bit of problem, well which do you want more", Draco stopped his passing and stared at her then said in a exhausted voice "it's not about which I want more, it's about proving that I can! And not brought my way."


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione and Draco had agreed that he wasn't to have is meeting today so if he ran, he could turn up to both exams; as his potion's exam was from 9am to 12am in the potion labs in the ministry and his auror exam was from 1pm to 5pm in the auror department, which gave him an hour to walk from one department to the next and have a small bite to eat for lunch. Draco, who had decided to follow Hermione's advice, had put on his auror training gear on under his robe, in order to save time, was currently sat at a circular marble table with his mother trying to relax enough to eat his breakfast but his eyes were drawn to his watch every 2 minutes.

"Draco, honey, you need to eat something you have a long day ahead" his mother said as she added a small spoonful of sugar to her grapefruit. Draco huffed but grabbed a piece of toast and began to spread butter and raspberry jam, while quietly chanting under his breath to himself 'I can do, I got this'. Draco slowly munched on his toast, "so mother, what are you up to today?" he asked, hoping to distract himself slightly, His mother swallowed her food then patted her lips with a napkin and replied, "Molly Weasley is going to start teaching me how to cook today, which should be awfully interesting." Draco grinned to himself at thought of his mother wearing an apron and cooking in a kitchen, then looked at his watched and realised it was time to go; so he got up gave his mother a kiss on the cheek then checked he had everything he need before he went to the fireplace in the pallor that the flew network was connected to.

At 8:50 am, Draco was stood outside the potions room, trying not to fidget, while he waited for his examiner to finish setting up the room. About 5 minutes later, the examiner called out 'enter', Draco took a deep breath to centre himself then entered the room. Inside the room, down the left side sat shelves full of ingredients in various sized jars, across the back was two cupboards filled with empty vials and cauldrons and a sink stained different colours, the right side had blackout windows and finally in the middle of the room as a long wooden work table. Draco walked to the front of the room to where the examiner stood, as he approached the man said, "Mr Malfoy, you have the next 4 hours to produce a batch of Essence of Dittany," he paused and looked down his nose at Draco and added "you have to make 12 size 4 bottles, each bottle must be labelled and the potion must work successfully in order to past this exam, as-well as everything been tidied away." Draco cleared his throat and asked as politely as he could "do I just say when I am ready to test my potion?" The man nodded and replied "test material will be brought in when you are ready". Draco walked and stood by the wooden table as the man looked at his watch, when it was 9am on the dot the examiner said "And you may begin." Draco went to the cupboards at the back first and retrieved all the equipment he would need; the he got the first lots of ingredients he would need and set about preparing them. About an hour later when the cauldron and to boil for an hour, Draco set about putting away ingredients he no longer needed, cleaned around his work space so there was less to do at the end. He also created the 12 labels and stuck them on the bottles while he waited to complete the next stage. About 30minutes later, Draco asked for his test subject, which within moments of asking a man with a shallow cut up his arm walks in and shows Draco his arm; Draco applies a small amount to the skin and watch as a green smoke rises from the skin, as the skin slowly heals and knits itself back together. With that then man leaves and Draco pours the potion evenly into the 12 bottles before he starts to clear away leaving the cauldron to soak in the warm soaping water in the sink. "Finished" Draco said, slightly panting as he stood behind the now clear, clean table. The man looked at his watch and replied, "Well done! You passed! You even had 6 minutes to spare, someone will be in contact for when you can begin your potion training." Draco smiled and silently thanked his lucky stars as all he had now was lunch then his auror interview/exam.

Over 6 minutes later, Draco decided to make a detour through the lunch hall, as his stomach growled, so he could buy a sandwich to eat before his auror interview/exam. As Draco walked to the que for food through the hall Draco spotted a few familiar faces but not enough name, just people he had seen before. But, when he turned back after paying for a chicken and stuffing sandwich he notice there was a table full of people he recognised; such as the Minister, the golden trio (Potter is head auror in training), Arthur Weasley and few others. Draco hoped he could sneak by as he just wanted to stay focussed, plus while he was beginning to like Granger he still struggled not antagonise weaselbee and Potter. However, by the unlucky stars Potter of all people spotted him and called out, "OI! Malfoy" as he beckon Draco over to the table. As he approach Harry said, "So I hear you got you interview/exam for training to be an auror in a bit", Draco cleared in throat, briefly looked at Hermione then back at Harry and replied as nicely as he could, "yes I have, so I probably should be heading over as don't want to be late"

Harry smiled and replied, "Nonsense, sit with us, I'll walk you over myself when I finished lunch."

Silence fell across the table except a slightly spluttering from Ron, Hermione smiled and nodded even Arthur added with a friendly smile, "Join us Draco, it's no problem." Draco sat on the bench next to Hermione and opposite Harry.

Harry asked after everyone started eating again, "so Draco, been keeping fit? As the auror exam is a killer" Harry and Ron shared a chuckle at an old memory of when they had their exam.

Draco nodded, "Yeah I hear it's physically exhausting, but it's what I've always wanted to do",

It was then someone further down the table asked, "I thought you were set to go on the wizamort or some other high official job like your father want?"

Draco thought for a moment before replying carefully, "Well in these times it easier for me to do what I always wanted such either be an auror or a potion's master like my god father was."

Lunch past with ease after that Draco and Harry even managed to have small convo before they left for the interview/exam room.

Harry led Draco to the room he was supposed to be in, but there was noone there. It was a long room, almost the size of a small hall. As the door swung shut behind them after they entered Harry turned to Draco and said, "So, Ready to begin?" Draco's jaw dropped for a moment before he could school his features into an indifferent mask and then nodded. Harry began explain how as Draco carry out the fitness test he would then ask his questions after that Draco had to do was to complete 3 obstacle course. Draco nodded along to what Harry was saying, and with that they began, first Draco had to do the beep test (you run between to sports before the beep, as it gets faster with each level), then he did hurdles but he had to dive under and climb things as well. As time went on Draco felt himself tiring as he was pushed to his limits but he swore to himself under his breath that he was going to finish, he was going to prove what he was made of.

After two hours, Harry finally said, "That's it for the first part, just the 3 obstacle courses" Draco bent at the waist and held his knees as he panted, trying to regain his breath. After a moment to regain his breath Harry led him outside then closed the door behind him, they stopped by the door and Harry tapped his foot 3 times then turned to Draco and said, "In this first challenge you need to retrieve the right key in order to pass, if you get stunned by a wizard, animal or other to the point to can't keep on, you fail" Harry looked Draco in the eye and added in a hard voice, "you use any dark spell and you fail, if you cheat you fail, get it? You won't get another chance" Draco stood up and straighter and with a look of determination replied, "Yes sir!" Harry nodded and open the door and the challenge began. Draco stepped carefully into the room to realise it was now like a dessert with high sand dunes and catus everywhere, he surveyed the land looking for any clues as to where the key might be; to his left were red rock caves like found on the indian planes to his right was what look like the outback's to australia. Draco decided he would look in the caves first, he withdrew his wand then kept low to the ground as he carefully jogged, always keeping an eye on his surroundings, Harry had even said they had hiden supplies such as water somewhere and he could feel himself quickly becoming dehydrated. As he first stepped inside the cave Draco did a spell to see if anything was alive in the cave but nothing happened then he tried, "Accio key" but once again nothing happened, Draco slowly crept further into the cave to realise in when into a cave network. Among the rocks and dusty floor Draco found a bit of a broken clay pot, pointing is wand at it and said "aquamenti" so he could drink some water. On the ways through the system of caves Draco battled various creatures till he came to a smaller cave filled with keys of various shapes and sizes, he cursed to himself thinking there would be only one key. Draco spent a long time checking for curses on the keys and such till he spotted a key partly buried by others, it was different it matched the door handle to the room when harry had opened the door; draco carefully used his want to levitate the key to him and went it touch his skin the cave and sand disappeared. Draco was once again stood in the empty room where harry was leant against the door smirking. "Nice! 1 down 2 to go" Harry said as he beckoned Draco over.

Once again Draco and Harry left the room and this time he locked the door, he turned to Draco and said, "All you got to do is get to the other side" Draco looked confused at Harry but all he added was, "the challenge beginnings when you unlock the door." Draco looked at the key and tried it in the door, he heard the bang on the bolt unlocking then cautiously opened the door to find himself in a horrible smell swamp with tangled trees and mist rolling gentle across the floor. An hour later found Draco in an empty room again with Harry once again by the door but this time Draco had a few cuts on his hands and arms plus dirt splattered across his robe. Draco gave himself a pat down the said to Harry surprising him, "That was actually pretty fun." Harry merely raised an eyebrow at him.

This time when they were outside the door a few aurors dressed in dark colours walked into the room before and shut the door before Draco could see what they were doing. Harry looked at Draco and said, "in a minute 2 aurors are going to join you, they are your teammates! The ones who just entered are the bad guys." he paused for a moment as he rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a picture of a 6 year old girl with bright blue eyes and curly auburn hair, then said, "you and our team need to save and secure this girl! She is somewhere hidden." With that two men in dark purple training gear approached and Harry introduced them, first pointing to the shorter man with short, wavy ash blond hair and said, "This is Matt Hammond." Then Harry pointed at the taller one who had broad muscular shoulders and short strawberry blond hair and a clean cut beard and added, "This is Jonny Foxtails, you have 5 minutes to make a game plan then you begin." Draco, Matt and Jonny began whispering at once and comparing ideas, all to soon Harry said the words, "Let the challenge begin."

This time when he open the door Draco and his team found themselves inside a dark forest where the sound of rustling could be heard, the boys ran in a v shape, keeping close to the floor and roots of the trees and used a dim glow from there wands to light the way. Along the way they battled a few giant spiders and a few other dark creatures, each of them was beginning to look a little messy with leaves, twigs in their hair and mud on their clothes. Soon they spotted a tunnel of smoke, the amount that comes from a camp fire, they spread a bit and kept in the bushes as they crept towards the smoke. It lead to a clearing where one dark figure stood next to a post which the girl had was tide to, that still meant there were two more figures out in the dark somewhere, Draco motioned for Jonny to sneak round and untie the girl while Matt distracted the guy and Draco kept a look out. As Johnny crept around, Draco moved his foot to let Matt past him but stumbled slightly which caught the attention of the guard. But before he even reached them and spell came right at Draco's face and if he hadn't been paying attention would have caught him. Both Matt and Draco jumped up, Matt started duelling the guard while Draco protected him and tried to work out where exactly where the two shots Draco was protect him and Matt again. Draco shot a spell to his left and heard a faint curse, he smiled to himself knowing that the man was up a tree, in the meantime Johnny was untying the crying girl. Draco noticed a guy in the shadows near them and ran over just in time to shot and intercept a spell aimed at them, Draco nodded to johnny who was trying to get the girl to move but she was to scare to Draco crouched to her level while johnny defended then "it be ok, we will get you safe. How about a piggy back ride?" the girl nodded with her thumb in her mouth but climbed on Draco's back and he adjust her waited and said to Johnny, "we need to get to mat slowly" Johnny nodded in reply and they edged towards Matt keeping the men in front of them and always firing and blocking spells. Once together they formed a triangle around the girl who still clung to Draco's back and slowly ushered out of the clearing, Draco managed to stun of one of the men.

After a few minutes the girl as long with everything disappeared leaving an empty room bar Draco, Matt, Johnny and the three other men, one of which was slowly sitting up right. Draco rubbed his jaw and turned and thanked Matt and Johnny. As the men left the room Harry came back in and smiled then chuckled at the state that Draco was in, Draco's hair was full of leaves, twig, dirt and pointing in every direction, his clothes and mud and dust stains on. Draco felt too exhausted to care that Harry was laughing at the state of him. Harry then said trying to keep the mirth out of his voice "well you past! We will let you know more detail later…oh and you can use the flew in my office so less people see you if you like?" Draco laughed once then replied in a tired voice, "Thanks."

An hour and a half later, Draco was home, showered and now sat with his mother again enjoying their evening meal, Draco told his mother every that had happened that day, even thought about texting Granger but they had a meeting tomorrow anyways so he thought he wait might even surprise her with something nice for the help the night before. After tea Draco read in his study for a bit before going to best and been fast asleep the minute his head it the pillow.


End file.
